Zero Residual Flag Coding

ABSTRACT

This disclosure relates to improved video coding scheme for zero residual or zero coefficient flags. For example, a method for decoding a current block in a video stream is disclosed. The method may include determining a zero-skip flag of at least one neighboring block of the current block as a reference zero-skip flag; determining a prediction mode for the current block as being either an intra prediction mode or inter prediction mode; deriving at least one context for decoding the zero-skip flag of the current block based on the reference zero-skip flag and the current prediction mode; and decoding the zero-skip flag of the current block according to the at least one context.

INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE

This application is based on and claims the benefit of priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/209,261, entitled “ZERO RESIDUAL FLAG CODING”, filed on Jun. 10, 2021, which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This disclosure relates generally to a set of advanced video coding/decoding technologies and more specifically to improved coding scheme for zero residual or zero coefficient flags.

BACKGROUND

This background description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent the work is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description that may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing of this application, are neither expressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the present disclosure.

Video coding and decoding can be performed using inter-picture prediction with motion compensation. Uncompressed digital video can include a series of pictures, with each picture having a spatial dimension of, for example, 1920×1080 luminance samples and associated full or subsampled chrominance samples. The series of pictures can have a fixed or variable picture rate (alternatively referred to as frame rate) of, for example, 60 pictures per second or 60 frames per second. Uncompressed video has specific bitrate requirements for streaming or data processing. For example, video with a pixel resolution of 1920×1080, a frame rate of 60 frames/second, and a chroma subsampling of 4:2:0 at 8 bit per pixel per color channel requires close to 1.5 Gbit/s bandwidth. An hour of such video requires more than 600 GBytes of storage space.

One purpose of video coding and decoding can be the reduction of redundancy in the uncompressed input video signal, through compression. Compression can help reduce the aforementioned bandwidth and/or storage space requirements, in some cases, by two orders of magnitude or more. Both lossless compression and lossy compression, as well as a combination thereof can be employed. Lossless compression refers to techniques where an exact copy of the original signal can be reconstructed from the compressed original signal via a decoding process. Lossy compression refers to coding/decoding process where original video information is not fully retained during coding and not fully recoverable during decoding. When using lossy compression, the reconstructed signal may not be identical to the original signal, but the distortion between original and reconstructed signals is made small enough to render the reconstructed signal useful for the intended application albeit some information loss. In the case of video, lossy compression is widely employed in many applications. The amount of tolerable distortion depends on the application. For example, users of certain consumer video streaming applications may tolerate higher distortion than users of cinematic or television broadcasting applications. The compression ratio achievable by a particular coding algorithm can be selected or adjusted to reflect various distortion tolerance: higher tolerable distortion generally allows for coding algorithms that yield higher losses and higher compression ratios.

A video encoder and decoder can utilize techniques from several broad categories and steps, including, for example, motion compensation, Fourier transform, quantization, and entropy coding.

Video codec technologies can include techniques known as intra coding. In intra coding, sample values are represented without reference to samples or other data from previously reconstructed reference pictures. In some video codecs, a picture is spatially subdivided into blocks of samples. When all blocks of samples are coded in intra mode, that picture can be referred to as an intra picture. Intra pictures and their derivatives such as independent decoder refresh pictures, can be used to reset the decoder state and can, therefore, be used as the first picture in a coded video bitstream and a video session, or as a still image. The samples of a block after intra prediction can then be subject to a transform into frequency domain, and the transform coefficients so generated can be quantized before entropy coding. Intra prediction represents a technique that minimizes sample values in the pre-transform domain. In some cases, the smaller the DC value after a transform is, and the smaller the AC coefficients are, the fewer the bits that are required at a given quantization step size to represent the block after entropy coding.

Traditional intra coding such as that known from, for example, MPEG-2 generation coding technologies, does not use intra prediction. However, some newer video compression technologies include techniques that attempt coding/decoding of blocks based on, for example, surrounding sample data and/or metadata that are obtained during the encoding and/or decoding of spatially neighboring, and that precede in decoding order the blocks of data being intra coded or decoded. Such techniques are henceforth called “intra prediction” techniques. Note that in at least some cases, intra prediction uses reference data only from the current picture under reconstruction and not from other reference pictures.

There can be many different forms of intra prediction. When more than one of such techniques are available in a given video coding technology, the technique in use can be referred to as an intra prediction mode. One or more intra prediction modes may be provided in a particular codec. In certain cases, modes can have submodes and/or may be associated with various parameters, and mode/submode information and intra coding parameters for blocks of video can be coded individually or collectively included in mode codewords. Which codeword to use for a given mode, submode, and/or parameter combination can have an impact in the coding efficiency gain through intra prediction, and so can the entropy coding technology used to translate the codewords into a bitstream.

A certain mode of intra prediction was introduced with H.264, refined in H.265, and further refined in newer coding technologies such as joint exploration model (JEM), versatile video coding (VVC), and benchmark set (BMS). Generally, for intra prediction, a predictor block can be formed using neighboring sample values that have become available. For example, available values of particular set of neighboring samples along certain direction and/or lines may be copied into the predictor block. A reference to the direction in use can be coded in the bitstream or may itself be predicted.

Referring to FIG. 1A, depicted in the lower right is a subset of nine predictor directions specified in H.265's 33 possible intra predictor directions (corresponding to the 33 angular modes of the 35 intra modes specified in H.265). The point where the arrows converge (101) represents the sample being predicted. The arrows represent the direction from which neighboring samples are used to predict the sample at 101. For example, arrow (102) indicates that sample (101) is predicted from a neighboring sample or samples to the upper right, at a 45 degree angle from the horizontal direction. Similarly, arrow (103) indicates that sample (101) is predicted from a neighboring sample or samples to the lower left of sample (101), in a 22.5 degree angle from the horizontal direction.

Still referring to FIG. 1A, on the top left there is depicted a square block (104) of 4×4 samples (indicated by a dashed, boldface line). The square block (104) includes 16 samples, each labelled with an “S”, its position in the Y dimension (e.g., row index) and its position in the X dimension (e.g., column index). For example, sample S21 is the second sample in the Y dimension (from the top) and the first (from the left) sample in the X dimension. Similarly, sample S44 is the fourth sample in block (104) in both the Y and X dimensions. As the block is 4×4 samples in size, S44 is at the bottom right. Further shown are example reference samples that follow a similar numbering scheme. A reference sample is labelled with an R, its Y position (e.g., row index) and X position (column index) relative to block (104). In both H.264 and H.265, prediction samples adjacently neighboring the block under reconstruction are used.

Intra picture prediction of block 104 may begin by copying reference sample values from the neighboring samples according to a signaled prediction direction. For example, assuming that the coded video bitstream includes signaling that, for this block 104, indicates a prediction direction of arrow (102)—that is, samples are predicted from a prediction sample or samples to the upper right, at a 45-degree angle from the horizontal direction. In such a case, samples S41, S32, S23, and S14 are predicted from the same reference sample R05. Sample S44 is then predicted from reference sample R08.

In certain cases, the values of multiple reference samples may be combined, for example through interpolation, in order to calculate a reference sample; especially when the directions are not evenly divisible by 45 degrees.

The number of possible directions has increased as video coding technology has continued to develop. In H.264 (year 2003), for example, nine different direction are available for intra prediction. That increased to 33 in H.265 (year 2013), and JEM/VVC/BMS, at the time of this disclosure, can support up to 65 directions. Experimental studies have been conducted to help identify the most suitable intra prediction directions, and certain techniques in the entropy coding may be used to encode those most suitable directions in a small number of bits, accepting a certain bit penalty for directions. Further, the directions themselves can sometimes be predicted from neighboring directions used in the intra prediction of the neighboring blocks that have been decoded.

FIG. 1B shows a schematic (180) that depicts 65 intra prediction directions according to JEM to illustrate the increasing number of prediction directions in various encoding technologies developed over time.

The manner for mapping of bits representing intra prediction directions to the prediction directions in the coded video bitstream may vary from video coding technology to video coding technology; and can range, for example, from simple direct mappings of prediction direction to intra prediction mode, to codewords, to complex adaptive schemes involving most probable modes, and similar techniques. In all cases, however, there can be certain directions for intro prediction that are statistically less likely to occur in video content than certain other directions. As the goal of video compression is the reduction of redundancy, those less likely directions will, in a well-designed video coding technology, may be represented by a larger number of bits than more likely directions.

Inter picture prediction, or inter prediction may be based on motion compensation. In motion compensation, sample data from a previously reconstructed picture or part thereof (reference picture), after being spatially shifted in a direction indicated by a motion vector (MV henceforth), may be used for a prediction of a newly reconstructed picture or picture part (e.g., a block). In some cases, the reference picture can be the same as the picture currently under reconstruction. MVs may have two dimensions X and Y, or three dimensions, with the third dimension being an indication of the reference picture in use (akin to a time dimension).

In some video compression techniques, a current MV applicable to a certain area of sample data can be predicted from other MVs, for example from those other MVs that are related to other areas of the sample data that are spatially adjacent to the area under reconstruction and precede the current MV in decoding order. Doing so can substantially reduce the overall amount of data required for coding the MVs by relying on removing redundancy in correlated MVs, thereby increasing compression efficiency. MV prediction can work effectively, for example, because when coding an input video signal derived from a camera (known as natural video) there is a statistical likelihood that areas larger than the area to which a single MV is applicable move in a similar direction in the video sequence and, therefore, can in some cases be predicted using a similar motion vector derived from MVs of neighboring area. That results in the actual MV for a given area to be similar or identical to the MV predicted from the surrounding MVs. Such an MV in turn may be represented, after entropy coding, in a smaller number of bits than what would be used if the MV is coded directly rather than predicted from the neighboring MV(s). In some cases, MV prediction can be an example of lossless compression of a signal (namely: the MVs) derived from the original signal (namely: the sample stream). In other cases, MV prediction itself can be lossy, for example because of rounding errors when calculating a predictor from several surrounding MVs.

Various MV prediction mechanisms are described in H.265/HEVC (ITU-T Rec. H.265, “High Efficiency Video Coding”, December 2016). Out of the many MV prediction mechanisms that H.265 specifies, described below is a technique henceforth referred to as “spatial merge”.

Specifically, referring to FIG. 2 , a current block (201) comprises samples that have been found by the encoder during the motion search process to be predictable from a previous block of the same size that has been spatially shifted. Instead of coding that MV directly, the MV can be derived from metadata associated with one or more reference pictures, for example from the most recent (in decoding order) reference picture, using the MV associated with either one of five surrounding samples, denoted A0, A1, and B0, B1, B2 (202 through 206, respectively). In H.265, the MV prediction can use predictors from the same reference picture that the neighboring block uses.

SUMMARY

Aspects of the disclosure provide methods and apparatuses for video encoding and decoding for improving coding scheme for zero residual or zero coefficient flags.

In some example implementations, a method for decoding a current block in a video stream is disclosed. The method may include determining a zero-skip flag of at least one neighboring block of the current block as a reference zero-skip flag; determining a prediction mode for the current block as being either an intra prediction mode or inter prediction mode; deriving at least one context for decoding the zero-skip flag of the current block based on the reference zero-skip flag and the current prediction mode; and decoding the zero-skip flag of the current block according to the at least one context.

In the implementations above, the at least one neighboring block comprises a first neighboring block and a second neighboring block of the current block; and the reference zero-skip flag comprise a first reference zero-skip flag and a second reference zero-skip flag corresponding to the first neighboring block and the second neighboring block, respectively. In some implementations, deriving the at least one context based on the reference zero-skip flag and the current prediction mode may include in response the current prediction mode being an inter prediction mode: deriving a first mode-dependent reference zero-skip flag based on a first prediction mode of the first neighboring block and the first reference zero-skip flag; deriving a second mode-dependent reference zero-skip flag based on a second prediction mode of the second neighboring block and the second reference zero-skip flag; and deriving the at least one context based on the first mode-dependent reference zero-skip flag and the second mode-dependent reference zero-skip flag. In some implementations, deriving the first mode-dependent reference zero-skip flag may include: in response to the first prediction mode being an inter prediction mode, setting the first mode-dependent reference zero-skip flag to a value of the first reference zero-skip flag; and in response to the first prediction mode not being an inter prediction mode, and setting the first mode-dependent reference zero-skip flag to a value indicating non-skip. Deriving the second mode-dependent reference zero-skip flag may include: in response to the second prediction mode being an inter prediction mode, setting the second mode-dependent reference zero-skip flag to a value of the second reference zero-skip flag; and in response to the second prediction mode not being an inter prediction mode, setting the second mode-dependent reference zero-skip flag to a value indicating non-skip.

In some of the implementations above, deriving the at least one context based on the first mode-dependent reference zero-skip flag and the second mode-dependent reference zero-skip flag may include deriving a context of the at least one context as a sum of the first mode-dependent reference zero-skip flag and the second mode-dependent reference zero-skip flag.

In some of the implementations above, the first neighboring block and the second neighboring block may include a top neighboring block and a left neighboring block of the current block, respectively.

In some of the implementations above, the first prediction mode is considered an inter prediction mode when a prediction mode of the first neighboring block is an intra copy mode; and the second prediction mode is considered an inter prediction mode when a prediction mode of the second neighboring block is an intra copy mode.

In some of the implementations above, a prediction mode flag for indicating whether the current block is an inter coded block is signaled before signaling the zero-skip flag of the current block.

In any of the implementations above, the current prediction mode is considered as an inter prediction mode when a prediction mode associated with the current block is an intra block copy mode.

In some of the implementations above, the at least one context may include a first context and a second context used for coding the zero-skip flag of the current block when the current block is intra coded and inter coded, respectively.

In some other example implementations, a method for decoding a current block in a video stream is disclosed. The method may include determining a zero-skip flag for the current block to indicate whether the current block is an all-zero block; deriving at least one set of contexts for decoding a prediction mode flag based on a value of the zero-skip flag, the prediction mode flag indicating whether the current block is to be intra decoded or inter decoded; and decoding the prediction mode flag of the current block according to the at least one set of contexts.

In some of the implementations above, the at least one set of contexts may include a first set of contexts when the zero-skip flag for the current block indicates that the current block is not an all-zero block; and the at least one set of contexts comprise a second set of contexts distinct from the first set of contexts when the zero-skip flag for the current block indicates that the current block is an all-zero block.

In some of the implementations above, the at least one set of contexts further depend on a value of at least one reference zero-skip flag of at least one neighboring block of the current block. Further, the at least one neighboring block may include a top neighboring block and a left neighboring block of the current block of the video.

In some other example implementations, a method for decoding a current block in a video bitstream is disclosed. The method may include parsing the video bitstream to identify a zero-skip flag for the current block; determining whether the current block is an all-zero block according to the zero-skip flag; and in response to that the current block is an all-zero block, setting a prediction mode flag of the current block to indicate a inter prediction mode rather than parsing it from the video bitstream.

In some of the implementations above, the method may further include using the prediction mode flag of the current block in decoding a neighboring block of the current block.

Aspects of the disclosure also provide devices or apparatus having a memory for storing computer instructions and processors configured to execute the computer instructions to carry out any of the method implementations above.

Aspects of the disclosure also provide non-transitory computer-readable mediums storing instructions which when executed by a computer for video decoding and/or encoding cause the computer to perform any of the method implementations above for video decoding and/or encoding.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Further features, the nature, and various advantages of the disclosed subject matter will be more apparent from the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1A shows a schematic illustration of an exemplary subset of intra prediction directional modes.

FIG. 1B shows an illustration of exemplary intra prediction directions.

FIG. 2 shows a schematic illustration of a current block and its surrounding spatial merge candidates for motion vector prediction in one example.

FIG. 3 shows a schematic illustration of a simplified block diagram of a communication system (300) in accordance with an example embodiment.

FIG. 4 shows a schematic illustration of a simplified block diagram of a communication system (400) in accordance with an example embodiment.

FIG. 5 shows a schematic illustration of a simplified block diagram of a video decoder in accordance with an example embodiment.

FIG. 6 shows a schematic illustration of a simplified block diagram of a video encoder in accordance with an example embodiment.

FIG. 7 shows a block diagram of a video encoder in accordance with another example embodiment.

FIG. 8 shows a block diagram of a video decoder in accordance with another example embodiment.

FIG. 9 shows a scheme of coding block partitioning according to example embodiments of the disclosure.

FIG. 10 shows another scheme of coding block partitioning according to example embodiments of the disclosure.

FIG. 11 shows another scheme of coding block partitioning according to example embodiments of the disclosure.

FIG. 12 shows another scheme of coding block partitioning according to example embodiments of the disclosure.

FIG. 13 shows a scheme for partitioning a coding block into multiple transform blocks and coding order of the transform blocks according to example embodiments of the disclosure.

FIG. 14 shows another scheme for partitioning a coding block into multiple transform blocks and coding order of the transform block according to example embodiments of the disclosure.

FIG. 15 shows another scheme for partitioning a coding block into multiple transform blocks according to example embodiments of the disclosure.

FIG. 16 shows a flow chart according to example embodiments of the disclosure.

FIG. 17 shows a schematic illustration of a computer system in accordance with example embodiments of the disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 3 illustrates a simplified block diagram of a communication system (300) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The communication system (300) includes a plurality of terminal devices that can communicate with each other, via, for example, a network (350). For example, the communication system (300) includes a first pair of terminal devices (310) and (320) interconnected via the network (350). In the example of FIG. 3 , the first pair of terminal devices (310) and (320) may perform unidirectional transmission of data. For example, the terminal device (310) may code video data (e.g., of a stream of video pictures that are captured by the terminal device (310)) for transmission to the other terminal device (320) via the network (350). The encoded video data can be transmitted in the form of one or more coded video bitstreams. The terminal device (320) may receive the coded video data from the network (350), decode the coded video data to recover the video pictures and display the video pictures according to the recovered video data. Unidirectional data transmission may be implemented in media serving applications and the like.

In another example, the communication system (300) includes a second pair of terminal devices (330) and (340) that perform bidirectional transmission of coded video data that may be implemented, for example, during a videoconferencing application. For bidirectional transmission of data, in an example, each terminal device of the terminal devices (330) and (340) may code video data (e.g., of a stream of video pictures that are captured by the terminal device) for transmission to the other terminal device of the terminal devices (330) and (340) via the network (350). Each terminal device of the terminal devices (330) and (340) also may receive the coded video data transmitted by the other terminal device of the terminal devices (330) and (340), and may decode the coded video data to recover the video pictures and may display the video pictures at an accessible display device according to the recovered video data.

In the example of FIG. 3 , the terminal devices (310), (320), (330) and (340) may be implemented as servers, personal computers and smart phones but the applicability of the underlying principles of the present disclosure may not be so limited. Embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in desktop computers, laptop computers, tablet computers, media players, wearable computers, dedicated video conferencing equipment, and/or the like. The network (350) represents any number or types of networks that convey coded video data among the terminal devices (310), (320), (330) and (340), including for example wireline (wired) and/or wireless communication networks. The communication network (350) may exchange data in circuit-switched, packet-switched, and/or other types of channels. Representative networks include telecommunications networks, local area networks, wide area networks and/or the Internet. For the purposes of the present discussion, the architecture and topology of the network (350) may be immaterial to the operation of the present disclosure unless explicitly explained herein.

FIG. 4 illustrates, as an example for an application for the disclosed subject matter, a placement of a video encoder and a video decoder in a video streaming environment. The disclosed subject matter may be equally applicable to other video applications, including, for example, video conferencing, digital TV broadcasting, gaming, virtual reality, storage of compressed video on digital media including CD, DVD, memory stick and the like, and so on.

A video streaming system may include a video capture subsystem (413) that can include a video source (401), e.g., a digital camera, for creating a stream of video pictures or images (402) that are uncompressed. In an example, the stream of video pictures (402) includes samples that are recorded by a digital camera of the video source 401. The stream of video pictures (402), depicted as a bold line to emphasize a high data volume when compared to encoded video data (404) (or coded video bitstreams), can be processed by an electronic device (420) that includes a video encoder (403) coupled to the video source (401). The video encoder (403) can include hardware, software, or a combination thereof to enable or implement aspects of the disclosed subject matter as described in more detail below. The encoded video data (404) (or encoded video bitstream (404)), depicted as a thin line to emphasize a lower data volume when compared to the stream of uncompressed video pictures (402), can be stored on a streaming server (405) for future use or directly to downstream video devices (not shown). One or more streaming client subsystems, such as client subsystems (406) and (408) in FIG. 4 can access the streaming server (405) to retrieve copies (407) and (409) of the encoded video data (404). A client subsystem (406) can include a video decoder (410), for example, in an electronic device (430). The video decoder (410) decodes the incoming copy (407) of the encoded video data and creates an outgoing stream of video pictures (411) that are uncompressed and that can be rendered on a display (412) (e.g., a display screen) or other rendering devices (not depicted). The video decoder 410 may be configured to perform some or all of the various functions described in this disclosure. In some streaming systems, the encoded video data (404), (407), and (409) (e.g., video bitstreams) can be encoded according to certain video coding/compression standards. Examples of those standards include ITU-T Recommendation H.265. In an example, a video coding standard under development is informally known as Versatile Video Coding (VVC). The disclosed subject matter may be used in the context of VVC, and other video coding standards.

It is noted that the electronic devices (420) and (430) can include other components (not shown). For example, the electronic device (420) can include a video decoder (not shown) and the electronic device (430) can include a video encoder (not shown) as well.

FIG. 5 shows a block diagram of a video decoder (510) according to any embodiment of the present disclosure below. The video decoder (510) can be included in an electronic device (530). The electronic device (530) can include a receiver (531) (e.g., receiving circuitry). The video decoder (510) can be used in place of the video decoder (410) in the example of FIG. 4 .

The receiver (531) may receive one or more coded video sequences to be decoded by the video decoder (510). In the same or another embodiment, one coded video sequence may be decoded at a time, where the decoding of each coded video sequence is independent from other coded video sequences. Each video sequence may be associated with multiple video frames or images. The coded video sequence may be received from a channel (501), which may be a hardware/software link to a storage device which stores the encoded video data or a streaming source which transmits the encoded video data. The receiver (531) may receive the encoded video data with other data such as coded audio data and/or ancillary data streams, that may be forwarded to their respective processing circuitry (not depicted). The receiver (531) may separate the coded video sequence from the other data. To combat network jitter, a buffer memory (515) may be disposed in between the receiver (531) and an entropy decoder/parser (520) (“parser (520)” henceforth). In certain applications, the buffer memory (515) may be implemented as part of the video decoder (510). In other applications, it can be outside of and separate from the video decoder (510) (not depicted). In still other applications, there can be a buffer memory (not depicted) outside of the video decoder (510) for the purpose of, for example, combating network jitter, and there may be another additional buffer memory (515) inside the video decoder (510), for example to handle playback timing. When the receiver (531) is receiving data from a store/forward device of sufficient bandwidth and controllability, or from an isosynchronous network, the buffer memory (515) may not be needed, or can be small. For use on best-effort packet networks such as the Internet, the buffer memory (515) of sufficient size may be required, and its size can be comparatively large. Such buffer memory may be implemented with an adaptive size, and may at least partially be implemented in an operating system or similar elements (not depicted) outside of the video decoder (510).

The video decoder (510) may include the parser (520) to reconstruct symbols (521) from the coded video sequence. Categories of those symbols include information used to manage operation of the video decoder (510), and potentially information to control a rendering device such as display (512) (e.g., a display screen) that may or may not an integral part of the electronic device (530) but can be coupled to the electronic device (530), as is shown in FIG. 5 . The control information for the rendering device(s) may be in the form of Supplemental Enhancement Information (SEI messages) or Video Usability Information (VUI) parameter set fragments (not depicted). The parser (520) may parse/entropy-decode the coded video sequence that is received by the parser (520). The entropy coding of the coded video sequence can be in accordance with a video coding technology or standard, and can follow various principles, including variable length coding, Huffman coding, arithmetic coding with or without context sensitivity, and so forth. The parser (520) may extract from the coded video sequence, a set of subgroup parameters for at least one of the subgroups of pixels in the video decoder, based upon at least one parameter corresponding to the subgroups. The subgroups can include Groups of Pictures (GOPs), pictures, tiles, slices, macroblocks, Coding Units (CUs), blocks, Transform Units (TUs), Prediction Units (PUs) and so forth. The parser (520) may also extract from the coded video sequence information such as transform coefficients (e.g., Fourier transform coefficients), quantizer parameter values, motion vectors, and so forth.

The parser (520) may perform an entropy decoding/parsing operation on the video sequence received from the buffer memory (515), so as to create symbols (521).

Reconstruction of the symbols (521) can involve multiple different processing or functional units depending on the type of the coded video picture or parts thereof (such as: inter and intra picture, inter and intra block), and other factors. The units that are involved and how they are involved may be controlled by the subgroup control information that was parsed from the coded video sequence by the parser (520). The flow of such subgroup control information between the parser (520) and the multiple processing or functional units below is not depicted for simplicity.

Beyond the functional blocks already mentioned, the video decoder (510) can be conceptually subdivided into a number of functional units as described below. In a practical implementation operating under commercial constraints, many of these functional units interact closely with each other and can, at least partly, be integrated with one another. However, for the purpose of describing the various functions of the disclosed subject matter with clarity, the conceptual subdivision into the functional units is adopted in the disclosure below.

A first unit may include the scaler/inverse transform unit (551). The scaler/inverse transform unit (551) may receive a quantized transform coefficient as well as control information, including information indicating which type of inverse transform to use, block size, quantization factor/parameters, quantization scaling matrices, and the lie as symbol(s) (521) from the parser (520). The scaler/inverse transform unit (551) can output blocks comprising sample values that can be input into aggregator (555).

In some cases, the output samples of the scaler/inverse transform (551) can pertain to an intra coded block, i.e., a block that does not use predictive information from previously reconstructed pictures, but can use predictive information from previously reconstructed parts of the current picture. Such predictive information can be provided by an intra picture prediction unit (552). In some cases, the intra picture prediction unit (552) may generate a block of the same size and shape of the block under reconstruction using surrounding block information that is already reconstructed and stored in the current picture buffer (558). The current picture buffer (558) buffers, for example, partly reconstructed current picture and/or fully reconstructed current picture. The aggregator (555), in some implementations, may add, on a per sample basis, the prediction information the intra prediction unit (552) has generated to the output sample information as provided by the scaler/inverse transform unit (551).

In other cases, the output samples of the scaler/inverse transform unit (551) can pertain to an inter coded, and potentially motion compensated block. In such a case, a motion compensation prediction unit (553) can access reference picture memory (557) to fetch samples used for inter-picture prediction. After motion compensating the fetched samples in accordance with the symbols (521) pertaining to the block, these samples can be added by the aggregator (555) to the output of the scaler/inverse transform unit (551) (output of unit 551 may be referred to as the residual samples or residual signal) so as to generate output sample information. The addresses within the reference picture memory (557) from where the motion compensation prediction unit (553) fetches prediction samples can be controlled by motion vectors, available to the motion compensation prediction unit (553) in the form of symbols (521) that can have, for example X, Y components (shift), and reference picture components (time). Motion compensation may also include interpolation of sample values as fetched from the reference picture memory (557) when sub-sample exact motion vectors are in use, and may also be associated with motion vector prediction mechanisms, and so forth.

The output samples of the aggregator (555) can be subject to various loop filtering techniques in the loop filter unit (556). Video compression technologies can include in-loop filter technologies that are controlled by parameters included in the coded video sequence (also referred to as coded video bitstream) and made available to the loop filter unit (556) as symbols (521) from the parser (520), but can also be responsive to meta-information obtained during the decoding of previous (in decoding order) parts of the coded picture or coded video sequence, as well as responsive to previously reconstructed and loop-filtered sample values. Several type of loop filters may be included as part of the loop filter unit 556 in various orders, as will be described in further detail below.

The output of the loop filter unit (556) can be a sample stream that can be output to the rendering device (512) as well as stored in the reference picture memory (557) for use in future inter-picture prediction.

Certain coded pictures, once fully reconstructed, can be used as reference pictures for future inter-picture prediction. For example, once a coded picture corresponding to a current picture is fully reconstructed and the coded picture has been identified as a reference picture (by, for example, the parser (520)), the current picture buffer (558) can become a part of the reference picture memory (557), and a fresh current picture buffer can be reallocated before commencing the reconstruction of the following coded picture.

The video decoder (510) may perform decoding operations according to a predetermined video compression technology adopted in a standard, such as ITU-T Rec. H.265. The coded video sequence may conform to a syntax specified by the video compression technology or standard being used, in the sense that the coded video sequence adheres to both the syntax of the video compression technology or standard and the profiles as documented in the video compression technology or standard. Specifically, a profile can select certain tools from all the tools available in the video compression technology or standard as the only tools available for use under that profile. To be standard-compliant, the complexity of the coded video sequence may be within bounds as defined by the level of the video compression technology or standard. In some cases, levels restrict the maximum picture size, maximum frame rate, maximum reconstruction sample rate (measured in, for example megasamples per second), maximum reference picture size, and so on. Limits set by levels can, in some cases, be further restricted through Hypothetical Reference Decoder (HRD) specifications and metadata for HRD buffer management signaled in the coded video sequence.

In some example embodiments, the receiver (531) may receive additional (redundant) data with the encoded video. The additional data may be included as part of the coded video sequence(s). The additional data may be used by the video decoder (510) to properly decode the data and/or to more accurately reconstruct the original video data. Additional data can be in the form of, for example, temporal, spatial, or signal noise ratio (SNR) enhancement layers, redundant slices, redundant pictures, forward error correction codes, and so on.

FIG. 6 shows a block diagram of a video encoder (603) according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure. The video encoder (603) may be included in an electronic device (620). The electronic device (620) may further include a transmitter (640) (e.g., transmitting circuitry). The video encoder (603) can be used in place of the video encoder (403) in the example of FIG. 4 .

The video encoder (603) may receive video samples from a video source (601) (that is not part of the electronic device (620) in the example of FIG. 6 ) that may capture video image(s) to be coded by the video encoder (603). In another example, the video source (601) may be implemented as a portion of the electronic device (620).

The video source (601) may provide the source video sequence to be coded by the video encoder (603) in the form of a digital video sample stream that can be of any suitable bit depth (for example: 8 bit, 10 bit, 12 bit, . . . ), any colorspace (for example, BT.601 YCrCb, RGB, XYZ . . . ), and any suitable sampling structure (for example YCrCb 4:2:0, YCrCb 4:4:4). In a media serving system, the video source (601) may be a storage device capable of storing previously prepared video. In a videoconferencing system, the video source (601) may be a camera that captures local image information as a video sequence. Video data may be provided as a plurality of individual pictures or images that impart motion when viewed in sequence. The pictures themselves may be organized as a spatial array of pixels, wherein each pixel can comprise one or more samples depending on the sampling structure, color space, and the like being in use. A person having ordinary skill in the art can readily understand the relationship between pixels and samples. The description below focuses on samples.

According to some example embodiments, the video encoder (603) may code and compress the pictures of the source video sequence into a coded video sequence (643) in real time or under any other time constraints as required by the application. Enforcing appropriate coding speed constitutes one function of a controller (650). In some embodiments, the controller (650) may be functionally coupled to and control other functional units as described below. The coupling is not depicted for simplicity. Parameters set by the controller (650) can include rate control related parameters (picture skip, quantizer, lambda value of rate-distortion optimization techniques, . . . ), picture size, group of pictures (GOP) layout, maximum motion vector search range, and the like. The controller (650) can be configured to have other suitable functions that pertain to the video encoder (603) optimized for a certain system design.

In some example embodiments, the video encoder (603) may be configured to operate in a coding loop. As an oversimplified description, in an example, the coding loop can include a source coder (630) (e.g., responsible for creating symbols, such as a symbol stream, based on an input picture to be coded, and a reference picture(s)), and a (local) decoder (633) embedded in the video encoder (603). The decoder (633) reconstructs the symbols to create the sample data in a similar manner as a (remote) decoder would create even though the embedded decoder 633 process coded video steam by the source coder 630 without entropy coding (as any compression between symbols and coded video bitstream in entropy coding may be lossless in the video compression technologies considered in the disclosed subject matter). The reconstructed sample stream (sample data) is input to the reference picture memory (634). As the decoding of a symbol stream leads to bit-exact results independent of decoder location (local or remote), the content in the reference picture memory (634) is also bit exact between the local encoder and remote encoder. In other words, the prediction part of an encoder “sees” as reference picture samples exactly the same sample values as a decoder would “see” when using prediction during decoding. This fundamental principle of reference picture synchronicity (and resulting drift, if synchronicity cannot be maintained, for example because of channel errors) is used to improve coding quality.

The operation of the “local” decoder (633) can be the same as of a “remote” decoder, such as the video decoder (510), which has already been described in detail above in conjunction with FIG. 5 . Briefly referring also to FIG. 5 , however, as symbols are available and encoding/decoding of symbols to a coded video sequence by an entropy coder (645) and the parser (520) can be lossless, the entropy decoding parts of the video decoder (510), including the buffer memory (515), and parser (520) may not be fully implemented in the local decoder (633) in the encoder.

An observation that can be made at this point is that any decoder technology except the parsing/entropy decoding that may only be present in a decoder also may necessarily need to be present, in substantially identical functional form, in a corresponding encoder. For this reason, the disclosed subject matter may at times focus on decoder operation, which allies to the decoding portion of the encoder. The description of encoder technologies can thus be abbreviated as they are the inverse of the comprehensively described decoder technologies. Only in certain areas or aspects a more detail description of the encoder is provided below.

During operation in some example implementations, the source coder (630) may perform motion compensated predictive coding, which codes an input picture predictively with reference to one or more previously coded picture from the video sequence that were designated as “reference pictures.” In this manner, the coding engine (632) codes differences (or residue) in the color channels between pixel blocks of an input picture and pixel blocks of reference picture(s) that may be selected as prediction reference(s) to the input picture. The term “residue” and its adjective form “residual” may be used interchangeably.

The local video decoder (633) may decode coded video data of pictures that may be designated as reference pictures, based on symbols created by the source coder (630). Operations of the coding engine (632) may advantageously be lossy processes. When the coded video data may be decoded at a video decoder (not shown in FIG. 6 ), the reconstructed video sequence typically may be a replica of the source video sequence with some errors. The local video decoder (633) replicates decoding processes that may be performed by the video decoder on reference pictures and may cause reconstructed reference pictures to be stored in the reference picture cache (634). In this manner, the video encoder (603) may store copies of reconstructed reference pictures locally that have common content as the reconstructed reference pictures that will be obtained by a far-end (remote) video decoder (absent transmission errors).

The predictor (635) may perform prediction searches for the coding engine (632). That is, for a new picture to be coded, the predictor (635) may search the reference picture memory (634) for sample data (as candidate reference pixel blocks) or certain metadata such as reference picture motion vectors, block shapes, and so on, that may serve as an appropriate prediction reference for the new pictures. The predictor (635) may operate on a sample block-by-pixel block basis to find appropriate prediction references. In some cases, as determined by search results obtained by the predictor (635), an input picture may have prediction references drawn from multiple reference pictures stored in the reference picture memory (634).

The controller (650) may manage coding operations of the source coder (630), including, for example, setting of parameters and subgroup parameters used for encoding the video data.

Output of all aforementioned functional units may be subjected to entropy coding in the entropy coder (645). The entropy coder (645) translates the symbols as generated by the various functional units into a coded video sequence, by lossless compression of the symbols according to technologies such as Huffman coding, variable length coding, arithmetic coding, and so forth.

The transmitter (640) may buffer the coded video sequence(s) as created by the entropy coder (645) to prepare for transmission via a communication channel (660), which may be a hardware/software link to a storage device which would store the encoded video data. The transmitter (640) may merge coded video data from the video coder (603) with other data to be transmitted, for example, coded audio data and/or ancillary data streams (sources not shown).

The controller (650) may manage operation of the video encoder (603). During coding, the controller (650) may assign to each coded picture a certain coded picture type, which may affect the coding techniques that may be applied to the respective picture. For example, pictures often may be assigned as one of the following picture types:

An Intra Picture (I picture) may be one that may be coded and decoded without using any other picture in the sequence as a source of prediction. Some video codecs allow for different types of intra pictures, including, for example Independent Decoder Refresh (“IDR”) Pictures. A person having ordinary skill in the art is aware of those variants of I pictures and their respective applications and features.

A predictive picture (P picture) may be one that may be coded and decoded using intra prediction or inter prediction using at most one motion vector and reference index to predict the sample values of each block.

A bi-directionally predictive picture (B Picture) may be one that may be coded and decoded using intra prediction or inter prediction using at most two motion vectors and reference indices to predict the sample values of each block. Similarly, multiple-predictive pictures can use more than two reference pictures and associated metadata for the reconstruction of a single block.

Source pictures commonly may be subdivided spatially into a plurality of sample coding blocks (for example, blocks of 4×4, 8×8, 4×8, or 16×16 samples each) and coded on a block-by-block basis. Blocks may be coded predictively with reference to other (already coded) blocks as determined by the coding assignment applied to the blocks' respective pictures. For example, blocks of I pictures may be coded non-predictively or they may be coded predictively with reference to already coded blocks of the same picture (spatial prediction or intra prediction). Pixel blocks of P pictures may be coded predictively, via spatial prediction or via temporal prediction with reference to one previously coded reference picture. Blocks of B pictures may be coded predictively, via spatial prediction or via temporal prediction with reference to one or two previously coded reference pictures. The source pictures or the intermediate processed pictures may be subdivided into other types of blocks for other purposes. The division of coding blocks and the other types of blocks may or may not follow the same manner, as described in further detail below.

The video encoder (603) may perform coding operations according to a predetermined video coding technology or standard, such as ITU-T Rec. H.265. In its operation, the video encoder (603) may perform various compression operations, including predictive coding operations that exploit temporal and spatial redundancies in the input video sequence. The coded video data may accordingly conform to a syntax specified by the video coding technology or standard being used.

In some example embodiments, the transmitter (640) may transmit additional data with the encoded video. The source coder (630) may include such data as part of the coded video sequence. The additional data may comprise temporal/spatial/SNR enhancement layers, other forms of redundant data such as redundant pictures and slices, SEI messages, VUI parameter set fragments, and so on.

A video may be captured as a plurality of source pictures (video pictures) in a temporal sequence. Intra-picture prediction (often abbreviated to intra prediction) utilizes spatial correlation in a given picture, and inter-picture prediction utilizes temporal or other correlation between the pictures. For example, a specific picture under encoding/decoding, which is referred to as a current picture, may be partitioned into blocks. A block in the current picture, when similar to a reference block in a previously coded and still buffered reference picture in the video, may be coded by a vector that is referred to as a motion vector. The motion vector points to the reference block in the reference picture, and can have a third dimension identifying the reference picture, in case multiple reference pictures are in use.

In some example embodiments, a bi-prediction technique can be used for inter-picture prediction. According to such bi-prediction technique, two reference pictures, such as a first reference picture and a second reference picture that both proceed the current picture in the video in decoding order (but may be in the past or future, respectively, in display order) are used. A block in the current picture can be coded by a first motion vector that points to a first reference block in the first reference picture, and a second motion vector that points to a second reference block in the second reference picture. The block can be jointly predicted by a combination of the first reference block and the second reference block.

Further, a merge mode technique may be used in the inter-picture prediction to improve coding efficiency.

According to some example embodiments of the disclosure, predictions, such as inter-picture predictions and intra-picture predictions are performed in the unit of blocks. For example, a picture in a sequence of video pictures is partitioned into coding tree units (CTU) for compression, the CTUs in a picture may have the same size, such as 64×64 pixels, 32×32 pixels, or 16×16 pixels. In general, a CTU may include three parallel coding tree blocks (CTBs): one luma CTB and two chroma CTBs. Each CTU can be recursively quadtree split into one or multiple coding units (CUs). For example, a CTU of 64×64 pixels can be split into one CU of 64×64 pixels, or 4 CUs of 32×32 pixels. Each of the one or more of the 32×32 block may be further split into 4 CUs of 16×16 pixels. In some example embodiments, each CU may be analyzed during encoding to determine a prediction type for the CU among various prediction types such as an inter prediction type or an intra prediction type. The CU may be split into one or more prediction units (PUs) depending on the temporal and/or spatial predictability. Generally, each PU includes a luma prediction block (PB), and two chroma PBs. In an embodiment, a prediction operation in coding (encoding/decoding) is performed in the unit of a prediction block. The split of a CU into PU (or PBs of different color channels) may be performed in various spatial pattern. A luma or chroma PB, for example, may include a matrix of values (e.g., luma values) for samples, such as 8×8 pixels, 16×16 pixels, 8×16 pixels, 16×8 samples, and the like.

FIG. 7 shows a diagram of a video encoder (703) according to another example embodiment of the disclosure. The video encoder (703) is configured to receive a processing block (e.g., a prediction block) of sample values within a current video picture in a sequence of video pictures, and encode the processing block into a coded picture that is part of a coded video sequence. The example video encoder (703) may be used in place of the video encoder (403) in the FIG. 4 example.

For example, the video encoder (703) receives a matrix of sample values for a processing block, such as a prediction block of 8×8 samples, and the like. The video encoder (703) then determines whether the processing block is best coded using intra mode, inter mode, or bi-prediction mode using, for example, rate-distortion optimization (RDO). When the processing block is determined to be coded in intra mode, the video encoder (703) may use an intra prediction technique to encode the processing block into the coded picture; and when the processing block is determined to be coded in inter mode or bi-prediction mode, the video encoder (703) may use an inter prediction or bi-prediction technique, respectively, to encode the processing block into the coded picture. In some example embodiments, a merge mode may be used as a submode of the inter picture prediction where the motion vector is derived from one or more motion vector predictors without the benefit of a coded motion vector component outside the predictors. In some other example embodiments, a motion vector component applicable to the subject block may be present. Accordingly, the video encoder (703) may include components not explicitly shown in FIG. 7 , such as a mode decision module, to determine the perdition mode of the processing blocks.

In the example of FIG. 7 , the video encoder (703) includes an inter encoder (730), an intra encoder (722), a residue calculator (723), a switch (726), a residue encoder (724), a general controller (721), and an entropy encoder (725) coupled together as shown in the example arrangement in FIG. 7 .

The inter encoder (730) is configured to receive the samples of the current block (e.g., a processing block), compare the block to one or more reference blocks in reference pictures (e.g., blocks in previous pictures and later pictures in display order), generate inter prediction information (e.g., description of redundant information according to inter encoding technique, motion vectors, merge mode information), and calculate inter prediction results (e.g., predicted block) based on the inter prediction information using any suitable technique. In some examples, the reference pictures are decoded reference pictures that are decoded based on the encoded video information using the decoding unit 633 embedded in the example encoder 620 of FIG. 6 (shown as residual decoder 728 of FIG. 7 , as described in further detail below).

The intra encoder (722) is configured to receive the samples of the current block (e.g., a processing block), compare the block to blocks already coded in the same picture, and generate quantized coefficients after transform, and in some cases also to generate intra prediction information (e.g., an intra prediction direction information according to one or more intra encoding techniques). The intra encoder (722) may calculates intra prediction results (e.g., predicted block) based on the intra prediction information and reference blocks in the same picture.

The general controller (721) may be configured to determine general control data and control other components of the video encoder (703) based on the general control data. In an example, the general controller (721) determines the prediction mode of the block, and provides a control signal to the switch (726) based on the prediction mode. For example, when the prediction mode is the intra mode, the general controller (721) controls the switch (726) to select the intra mode result for use by the residue calculator (723), and controls the entropy encoder (725) to select the intra prediction information and include the intra prediction information in the bitstream; and when the predication mode for the block is the inter mode, the general controller (721) controls the switch (726) to select the inter prediction result for use by the residue calculator (723), and controls the entropy encoder (725) to select the inter prediction information and include the inter prediction information in the bitstream.

The residue calculator (723) may be configured to calculate a difference (residue data) between the received block and prediction results for the block selected from the intra encoder (722) or the inter encoder (730). The residue encoder (724) may be configured to encode the residue data to generate transform coefficients. For example, the residue encoder (724) may be configured to convert the residue data from a spatial domain to a frequency domain to generate the transform coefficients. The transform coefficients are then subject to quantization processing to obtain quantized transform coefficients. In various example embodiments, the video encoder (703) also includes a residual decoder (728). The residual decoder (728) is configured to perform inverse-transform, and generate the decoded residue data. The decoded residue data can be suitably used by the intra encoder (722) and the inter encoder (730). For example, the inter encoder (730) can generate decoded blocks based on the decoded residue data and inter prediction information, and the intra encoder (722) can generate decoded blocks based on the decoded residue data and the intra prediction information. The decoded blocks are suitably processed to generate decoded pictures and the decoded pictures can be buffered in a memory circuit (not shown) and used as reference pictures.

The entropy encoder (725) may be configured to format the bitstream to include the encoded block and perform entropy coding. The entropy encoder (725) is configured to include in the bitstream various information. For example, the entropy encoder (725) may be configured to include the general control data, the selected prediction information (e.g., intra prediction information or inter prediction information), the residue information, and other suitable information in the bitstream. When coding a block in the merge submode of either inter mode or bi-prediction mode, there may be no residue information.

FIG. 8 shows a diagram of an example video decoder (810) according to another embodiment of the disclosure. The video decoder (810) is configured to receive coded pictures that are part of a coded video sequence, and decode the coded pictures to generate reconstructed pictures. In an example, the video decoder (810) may be used in place of the video decoder (410) in the example of FIG. 4 .

In the example of FIG. 8 , the video decoder (810) includes an entropy decoder (871), an inter decoder (880), a residual decoder (873), a reconstruction module (874), and an intra decoder (872) coupled together as shown in the example arrangement of FIG. 8 .

The entropy decoder (871) can be configured to reconstruct, from the coded picture, certain symbols that represent the syntax elements of which the coded picture is made up. Such symbols can include, for example, the mode in which a block is coded (e.g., intra mode, inter mode, bi-predicted mode, merge submode or another submode), prediction information (e.g., intra prediction information or inter prediction information) that can identify certain sample or metadata used for prediction by the intra decoder (872) or the inter decoder (880), residual information in the form of, for example, quantized transform coefficients, and the like. In an example, when the prediction mode is the inter or bi-predicted mode, the inter prediction information is provided to the inter decoder (880); and when the prediction type is the intra prediction type, the intra prediction information is provided to the intra decoder (872). The residual information can be subject to inverse quantization and is provided to the residual decoder (873).

The inter decoder (880) may be configured to receive the inter prediction information, and generate inter prediction results based on the inter prediction information.

The intra decoder (872) may be configured to receive the intra prediction information, and generate prediction results based on the intra prediction information.

The residual decoder (873) may be configured to perform inverse quantization to extract de-quantized transform coefficients, and process the de-quantized transform coefficients to convert the residual from the frequency domain to the spatial domain. The residual decoder (873) may also utilize certain control information (to include the Quantizer Parameter (QP)) which may be provided by the entropy decoder (871) (data path not depicted as this may be low data volume control information only).

The reconstruction module (874) may be configured to combine, in the spatial domain, the residual as output by the residual decoder (873) and the prediction results (as output by the inter or intra prediction modules as the case may be) to form a reconstructed block forming part of the reconstructed picture as part of the reconstructed video. It is noted that other suitable operations, such as a deblocking operation and the like, may also be performed to improve the visual quality.

It is noted that the video encoders (403), (603), and (703), and the video decoders (410), (510), and (810) can be implemented using any suitable technique. In some example embodiments, the video encoders (403), (603), and (703), and the video decoders (410), (510), and (810) can be implemented using one or more integrated circuits. In another embodiment, the video encoders (403), (603), and (603), and the video decoders (410), (510), and (810) can be implemented using one or more processors that execute software instructions.

Turing to coding block partitioning, and in some example implementations, a predetermined pattern may be applied. As shown in FIG. 9 , an example 4-way partition tree starting from a first predefined level (e.g., 64×64 block level) down to a second predefined level (e.g., 4×4 level) may be employed. For example, a base block may be subject to four partitioning options indicated by 902, 904, 906, and 908, with the partitions designated as R as being allowed for recursive partitions in that the same partition tree as indicated in FIG. 9 may be repeated at a lower scale until the lowest level (e.g., 4×4 level). In some implementations, additional restrictions may be applied to the partitioning scheme of FIG. 9 . In the implementation of FIG. 9 , rectangular partitions (e.g., 1:2/2:1 rectangular partitions) may be allowed but they may not be allowed to be recursive, whereas a square partitioning is allowed to be recursive. The partitioning following FIG. 9 with recursion, if needed, generates a final set of coding blocks. Such scheme may apply to one or more of the color channels.

FIG. 10 shows another example predefined partitioning pattern allowing recursive partitioning to form a partitioning tree. As shown in FIG. 10 , an example 10-way partitioning structure or pattern may be predefined. The root block may start at a predefined level (e.g. from 128×128 level, or 64×64 level). The example partitioning structure of FIG. 10 includes various 2:1/1:2 and 4:1/1:4 rectangular partitions. The partition types with 3 sub-partitions indicated 1002, 1004, 1006, and 1008 in the second row of FIG. 10 may be referred to “T-type” partitions. The “T-Type” partitions 1002, 1004, 1006, and 1008 may be referred to as Left T-Type, Top T-Type, Right T-Type and Bottom T-Type. In some implementations, none of the rectangular partitions of FIG. 10 is allowed to be further subdivided. A coding tree depth may be further defined to indicate the splitting depth from the root node or root block. For example, the coding tree depth for the root node or root black, e.g. for a 128×128 block, may be set to 0, and after the root block is further split once following FIG. 10 , the coding tree depth is increased by 1. In some implementations, only the all-square partitions in 1010 may be allowed for recursive partitioning into the next level of the partitioning tree following pattern of FIG. 10 . In other words, recursive partitioning may not be allowed for the square partitions with patterns 1002, 1004, 1006, and 1006. The partitioning following FIG. 10 with recursion, if needed, generates a final set of coding blocks. Such scheme may apply to one or more of the color channels.

After dividing or partitioning a base block following any of the partitioning procedures or other procedures above, again, a final set of partitions or coding block may be obtained. Each of these partitions may be at one of various partitioning levels. Each of the partitions may be referred to as a coding block (CB). For the various example partitioning implementations above, each resulting CB may be of any of the allowed sizes and partitioning levels. They are referred to as coding block because they may form units for which some basic coding/decoding decisions may be made and coding/decoding parameters may be optimized, determined, and signaled in an encoded video bitstream. The highest level in the final partitions represents the depth of the coding block partitioning tree. Coding block may be a luma coding block or a chroma coding block.

In some other example implementations, a quadtree structure may be used for splitting base luma and chroma blocks recursively into coding units. Such splitting structure may be referred to as a coding tree unit (CTU), which is split into coding units (CUs) by using the quadtree structure to adapt the partitioning to various local characteristics of the base CTU. In such implementations, implicit quadtree split may be performed at picture boundary so that a block will keep quad-tree splitting until the size fits the picture boundary. The term CU is used to collectively refer to units of luma and chroma coding blocks (CBs).

In some implementations, a CB may be further partitioned. For example, A CB may be further partitioned into multiple prediction blocks (PBs) for purposes of intra or inter-frame prediction during coding and decoding processes. In other words, a CB may be further divided into different sub partitions, where individual prediction decision/configuration may be made. In parallel, a CB may be further partitioned into a plurality of transform blocks (TBs) for purposes of delineating levels at which transform or inverse transform of video data is performed. The partitioning scheme of a CB into PBs and TBs may or may not be the same. For example, each partitioning scheme may be performed using its own procedure based on, for example, the various characteristics of the video data. The PB and TB partitioning schemes may be independent in some example implementations. The PB and TB partitioning schemes and boundaries may be correlated in some other example implementations. In some implementations, for example, TBs may be partitioned after PB partitions, and in particular, each PB, after being determined following partitioning of a coding block, may then be further partitioned into one or more TBs. For example, in some implementations, a PB may be split into one, two, four, or other number of TBs.

In some implementations, for partitioning of a base block into coding blocks and further into prediction blocks and/or transform blocks, the luma channel and the chroma channels may be treated differently. For example, in some implementations, partitioning of a coding block into prediction blocks and/or transform blocks may be allowed for the luma channel whereas such partitioning of a coding block into prediction blocks and/or transform blocks may not be allowed for the chroma channel(s). In such implementations, transform and/or prediction of luma blocks thus may be performed only at the coding block level. For another example, minimum transform block size for luma channel and chroma channel(s) may be different, e.g., coding blocks for luma channel may be allowed to be partitioned into smaller transform and/or prediction blocks than the chroma channels. For yet another example, the maximum depth of partitioning of a coding block into transform blocks and/or prediction blocks may be different between the luma channel and the chroma channels, e.g., coding blocks for luma channel may be allowed to be partitioned into deeper transform and/or prediction blocks than the chroma channel(s). For a specific example, luma coding blocks may be partitioned into transform blocks of multiple sizes that can be represented by a recursive partition going down by up to 2 levels, and transform block shapes such as square, 2:1/1:2, and 4:1/1:4 and transform block size from 4×4 to 64×64 may be allowed. For chroma blocks, however, only the largest possible transform blocks specified for the luma blocks may be allowed.

In some example implementations for partitioning of a coding block into PBs, the depth, the shape, and/or other characteristics of the PB partitioning may depend on whether the PB is intra or inter coded.

The partitioning of a coding block (or a prediction block) into transform blocks may be implemented in various example schemes, including but not limited to quadtree splitting and predefined pattern splitting, recursively or non-recursively, and with additional consideration for transform blocks at the boundary of the coding block or prediction block. In general, the resulting transform blocks may be at different split levels, may not be of the same size, and may not need to be square in shape (e.g., they can be rectangular with some allowed sizes and aspect ratios).

In some implementations, coding partition tree schemes or structures may be used. Coding partition tree schemes used for the luma and chroma channels may not need to be the same. In other words, luma and chroma channels may have separate coding tree structures. Further, whether the luma and chroma channels use the same or different coding partition tree structures and the actual coding partition tree structures to be used may depend on whether the slice being coded is a P, B, or I slice. For example, For an I slice, the chroma channels and luma channel may have separate coding partition tree structures or coding partition tree structure modes, whereas for a P or B slice, the luma and chroma channels may share a same coding partition tree scheme. When separate coding partition tree structures or modes are applied, luma channel may be partitioned into CBs by one coding partition tree structure, and the chroma channel may be partitioned into chroma CBs by another coding partition tree structure.

A specific example implementation of coding block and transform block partitioning is described below. In such an example implementation, a base coding block may be split into coding blocks using recursive quadtree splitting described above. At each level, whether further quadtree splitting of a particular partition should continue may be determined by local video data characteristics. The resulting CBs may be at various quadtree splitting levels, of various sizes. The decision on whether to code a picture area using inter-picture (temporal) or intra-picture (spatial) prediction may be made at the CB level (or CU level, for all three-color channels). Each CB may be further split into one, two, four, or other number of PBs according to PB splitting type. Inside one PB, the same prediction process may be applied and the relevant information is transmitted to the decoder on a PB basis. After obtaining the residual block by applying the prediction process based on the PB splitting type, a CB can be partitioned into TBs according to another quadtree structure similar to the coding tree for the CB. In this particular implementation, a CB or a TB may but does not have to be limited to square shape. Further in this particular example, a PB may be square or rectangular shape for an inter-prediction and may only be square for intra-prediction. A coding block may be further split into, e.g., four square-shaped TBs. Each TB may be further split recursively (using quadtree split) into smaller TBs, referred to as Residual Quad-Tree (RQT).

Another specific example for partitioning of a base coding block into CBs and other PBs and or TBs are described below. For example, rather than using a multiple partition unit types such as those shown in FIG. 10 , a quadtree with nested multi-type tree using binary and ternary splits segmentation structure may be used. The separation of the CB, PB and TB concepts (i.e., the partitioning of CB into PBs and/or TBs, and the partitioning of PBs into TBs) may be abandoned except when needed for CBs that have a size too large for the maximum transform length, where such CBs may need further splitting. This example portioning scheme may be designed to support more flexibility for CB partition shapes so that the prediction and transform can both be performed on the CB level without further partitioning. In such a coding tree structure, a CB may have either a square or rectangular shape. Specifically, a coding tree block (CTB) may be first partitioned by a quadtree structure. Then the quadtree leaf nodes may be further partitioned by a multi-type tree structure. An example of the multi-type tree structure is shown in FIG. 11 . Specifically, the example multi-type tree structure of FIG. 11 includes four splitting types, referred to as vertical binary splitting (SPLIT_BT_VER) (1102), horizontal binary splitting (SPLIT_BT_HOR) (1104), vertical ternary splitting (SPLIT_TT_VER) (1106), and horizontal ternary splitting (SPLIT_TT_HOR) (1108). The CBs then corresponds to leaves of the multi-type tree. In this example implementation, unless the CB is too large for the maximum transform length, this segmentation is used for both prediction and transform processing without any further partitioning. This means that, in most cases, the CB, PB and TB have the same block size in the quadtree with nested multi-type tree coding block structure. The exception occurs when maximum supported transform length is smaller than the width or height of the colour component of the CB.

One example for the quadtree with nested multi-type tree coding block structure of block partition for one CTB is shown in FIG. 12 . In more detail, FIG. 12 shows that the CTB 1200 is quadtree split into four square partitions 1202, 1204, 1206, and 1208. Decision to further use the multi-type tree structure of FIG. 11 for splitting is made for each of the quadtree-split partitions. In the example of FIG. 12 , partition 1204 is not further split. Partitions 1202 and 1208 each adopt another quadtree split. For partition 1202, the second level quadtree-split top-left, top-right, bottom-left, and bottom-right partitions adopts third level splitting of quadtree, 1104 of FIG. 11 , non-splitting, and 1108 of FIG. 11 , respective. Partition 1208 adopts another quadtree split, and the second level quadtree-split top-left, top-right, bottom-left, and bottom-right partitions adopts third level splitting of 1106 of FIG. 11 , non-splitting, non-splitting, and 1104 of FIG. 11 , respectively. Two of the subpartitions of the third-level top-left partition of 1208 are further split according to 1104 and 1108. Partition 1206 adopts a second level split pattern following 1102 of FIG. 11 into two partitions which are further split in a third-level according to 1108 and 1102 of the FIG. 11 . A fourth level splitting is further applied to one of them according to 1104 of FIG. 11 .

For the specific example above, the maximum luma transform size may be 64×64 and the maximum supported chroma transform size could be different from the luma at, e.g., 32×32. When the width or height of the luma coding block or chroma coding block is larger than the maximum transform width or height, the luma coding block or chroma coding block may be automatically split in the horizontal and/or vertical direction to meet the transform size restriction in that direction.

In the specific example for partitioning of a base coding block into CBs above, the coding tree scheme may support the ability for the luma and chroma to have a separate block tree structure. For example, for P and B slices, the luma and chroma CTBs in one CTU may share the same coding tree structure. For I slices, for example, the luma and chroma may have separate coding block tree structures. When separate block tree modes are applied, luma CTB may be partitioned into luma CBs by one coding tree structure, and the chroma CTBs are partitioned into chroma CBs by another coding tree structure. This means that a CU in an I slice may consist of a coding block of the luma component or coding blocks of two chroma components, and a CU in a P or B slice always consists of coding blocks of all three colour components unless the video is monochrome.

Example implementations for partitioning a coding block or prediction block into transform blocks, and a coding order of the transform blocks are described in further detail below. In some example implementations, a transform partitioning may support transform blocks of multiple shapes, e.g., 1:1 (square), 1:2/2:1, and 1:4/4:1, with transform block sizes ranging from, e.g., 4×4 to 64×64. In some implementations, if the coding block is smaller than or equal to 64×64, the transform block partitioning may only apply to luma component, such that for chroma blocks, the transform block size is identical to the coding block size. Otherwise, if the coding block width or height is greater than 64, then both the luma and chroma coding blocks may be implicitly split into multiples of min (W, 64)×min (H, 64) and min (W, 32)×min (H, 32) transform blocks, respectively.

In some example implementations, for both intra and inter coded blocks, a coding block may be further partitioned into multiple transform blocks with a partitioning depth up to a predefined number of levels (e.g., 2 levels). The transform block partitioning depth and sizes may be related. An example mapping from the transform size of the current depth to the transform size of the next depth is shown in the following in Table 1.

TABLE 1 Transform partition size setting Transform Size of Transform Size of Current Depth Next Depth TX_4 × 4 TX_4 × 4 TX_8 × 8 TX_4 × 4 TX16 × 16 TX_8 × 8 TX_32 × 32 TX_16 × 16 TX_64 × 64 TX_32 × 32 TX_4 × 8 TX_4 × 4 TX_8 × 4 TX_4 × 4 TX_8 × 16 TX_8 × 8 TX_16 × 8 TX_8 × 8 TX_16 × 32 TX_16 × 16 TX_32 × 16 TX_16 × 16 TX_32 × 64 TX_32 × 32 TX_64 × 32 TX_32 × 32 TX_4 × 16 TX_4 × 8 TX_16 × 4 TX_8 × 4 TX_8 × 32 TX_8 × 16 TX_32 × 8 TX_16 × 8 TX_16 × 64 TX_16 × 32 TX_64 × 16 TX_32 × 16

Based on the example mapping of Table 1, for 1:1 square block, the next level transform split may create four 1:1 square sub-transform blocks. Transform partition may stop, for example, at 4×4. As such, a transform size for current depth of 4×4 corresponds to the same size of 4×4 for the next depth. In the example of Table 1, for 1:2/2:1 non-square block, the next level transform split will create two 1:1 square sub-transform blocks, whereas for 1:4/4:1 non-square block, the next level transform split will create two 1:2/2:1 sub transform blocks.

In some example implementations, for luma component of an intra coded block, additional restriction may be applied. For example, for each level of transform partitioning, all the sub-transform blocks may be restricted to having equal size. For example, for a 32×16 coding block, level 1 transform split creates two 16×16 sub-transform blocks, level 2 transform split creates eight 8×8 sub-transform blocks. In other words, the second level splitting must be applied to all first level sub blocks to keep the transform units at equal sizes. An example of the transform block partitioning for intra coded square block following Table 1 is shown in FIG. 13 , together with coding order illustrated by the arrows. Specifically, 1302 shows the square coding block. A first-level split into 4 equal sized transform blocks according to Table 1 is shown in 1304 with coding order indicated by the arrows. A second-level split of all of the first-level equal sized blocks into 16 equal sized transform blocks according to Table 1 is shown in 1306 with coding order indicated by the arrows.

In some example implementations, for luma component of inter coded block, the above restriction for intra coding may not be applied. For example, after the first level of transform splitting, any one of sub-transform block may be further split independently with one more level. The resulting transform blocks thus may or may not be of the same size. An example split of an inter coded block into transform locks with their coding order is show in FIG. 14 . In the Example of FIG. 14 , the inter coded block 1402 is split into transform blocks at two levels according to Table 1. At the first level, the inter coded block is split into four transform blocks of equal size. Then only one of the four transform blocks (not all of them) is further split into four sub-transform blocks, resulting in a total of 7 transform blocks having two different sizes, as shown by 1404. The example coding order of these 7 transform blocks is shown by the arrows in 1404 of FIG. 14 .

In some example implementations, for chroma component(s), some additional restriction for transform blocks may apply. For example, for chroma component(s) the transform block size can be as large as the coding block size, but not smaller than a predefined size, e.g., 8×8.

In some other example implementations, for the coding block with either width (W) or height (H) being greater than 64, both the luma and chroma coding blocks may be implicitly split into multiples of min (W, 64)×min (H, 64) and min (W, 32)×min (H, 32) transform units, respectively.

FIG. 15 further shows another alternative example scheme for partitioning a coding block or prediction block into transform blocks. As shown in FIG. 15 , instead of using recursive transform partitioning, a predefined set of partitioning types may be applied to a coding block according a transform type of the coding block. In the particular example shown in FIG. 15 , one of the 6 example partitioning types may be applied to split a coding block into various number of transform blocks. Such scheme may be applied to either a coding block or a prediction block.

In more detail, the partitioning scheme of FIG. 15 provides up to 6 partition types for any given transform type as shown in FIG. 15 . In this scheme, every coding block or prediction block may be assigned a transform type based on, for example, a rate-distortion cost. In an example, the partition type assigned to the coding block or prediction block may be determined based on the transform partition type of the coding block or prediction block. A particular partition type may correspond to a transform block split size and pattern (or partition type), as shown by the 4 partition types illustrated in FIG. 15 . A correspondence relationship between various transform types and the various partition types may be predefined. An example correspondence is shown below with the capitalized labels indicating the transform types that may be assigned to the coding block or prediction block based on rate distortion cost:

-   -   PARTITION_NONE: Assigns a transform size that is equal to the         block size.     -   PARTITION_SPLIT: Assigns a transform size that is ½ the width of         the block size and ½ the height of the block size.     -   PARTITION_HORZ: Assigns a transform size with the same width as         the block size and ½ the height of the block size.     -   PARTITION_VERT: Assigns a transform size with ½ the width of the         block size and the same height as the block size.     -   PARTITION_HORZ4: Assigns a transform size with the same width as         the block size and ¼ the height of the block size.     -   PARTITION_VERT4: Assigns a transform size with ¼ the width of         the block size and the same height as the block size.

In the example above, the partition types as shown in FIG. 15 all contain uniform transform sizes for the partitioned transform blocks. This is a mere example rather than a limitation. In some other implementations, mixed transform blocks sizes may be used for the partitioned transform blocks in a particular partition type (or pattern).

Turning to some example implementations of a particular type of signaling and entropy coding of various blocks/units, for each intra and inter coding block/unit, a flag, namely skip_txfm flag, may be signaled in the coded bitstream, as shown in the example syntax of Table 2 below and represented by the read_skip( ) function for the retrieval of these flag from the bitstream. This flag may indicate whether the transform coefficients are all zero in the current coding unit. This skip_txfm flag may be alternatively referred to a zero-skip flag. In some example implementations, if this flag is signaled with, for example, a value 1, then another transform coefficient related syntaxes, e.g., EOB (End of Block) need not be signaled for any of the coding blocks in the coding unit, and can be derived as a value or data structure predefined for and associated with zero transform coefficients block. For inter coding block, as shown by the example of Table 2, this flag may be signaled after a skip_mode flag, which indicate that the coding unit may be skipped for various reasons. When skip_mode flag value is true, the coding unit should be skipped and there is no need to signal any skip_txfm flag and the skip_txfm flag is inferred as 1. Otherwise, if skip_mode flag is false, then more information about the coding block/unit would be included in the bitstream and skip_txfm flag would be additionally signaled to indicate whether the coding block/unit is all zero or not.

TABLE 2 Skip Mode and Skip Syntax Intra frame mode info syntax Type intra_frame_mode_info( ) {  skip = 0  if ( SegIdPreSkip )   intra_segment_id( )  skip_mode = 0  read_skip( )  if ( !SegIdPreSkip )   intra_segment_id( )  read_cdef( )  read_delta_qindex( )  read_delta_1f( )  ReadDeltas = 0  RefFrame[ 0 ] = INTRA_FRAME  RefFrame[ 1 ] = NONE  if ( allow_intrabc ) {   use_intrabc S( )  } else {   use_intrabc = 0  }

Intra Frame Mode Info Syntax

Type inter_frame_mode_info( ) {  use_intrabc = 0  LeftRefFrame[ 0 ] = AvailL ? RefFrames[ MiRow ][ MiCol-1 ][ 0 ] : INTRA_FRAME  AboveRefFrame[ 0 ] = AvailU ? RefFrames[ MiRow-1 ][ MiCol ][ 0 ] : INTRA FRAME  LeftRefFrame[ 1 ] = AvailL ? RefFrames[ MiRow ][ MiCol-1 ][ 1 ] : NONE  AboveRefFrame[ 1 ] = AvailU ? RefFrames[ MiRow ][ MiCol-1 ][ 1 ] : NONE  LeftSingle = LeftRefFrame[ 0 ] <= INTRA_FRAME  AboveIntra = AboveRefFrame[ 0 ] < INTRA_FRAME  LeftSingle = LeftRefFrame[ 1 ] <= INTRA_FRAME  AboveSingle = AboveRefFrame[ 3 ] <= INTRA_FRAME  skip = 0  inter_segment_id( 1 )  read_skip_mode( )  if ( skip_mode )   skip = 1  else   read_skip( )

Skip Syntax

Type read_skip( ) {  if ( SegIdPreSkp && seg_feature_active( SEG_LVL_SKIP ) ) {   skip = 1  } else {   skip S( )  } }

As such, the skip_txfm flag may be used to indicate whether a block associated with this flag is all zero and can be skipped. If this flag is signaled as 1, for example, the block may contain all zero coefficients. Otherwise, if this flag is signaled as zero, then at least some coefficients in the block is non-zero. In some implementations, the block may be divided or partitioned into transform blocks in various manners as described above. Each of the t transform blocks may be additionally associated with an EOB skip flag that may be signaled in the encoded bitstream. If the EOB skip flag for a particular transform block is signaled as 1, then no EOB for the transform block would be included in the bitstream and the transform block can be skipped because it has no non-zero coefficients. However, when the EOB skip flag for a transform block is signaled as 0, then that indicates there is at least one non-zero coefficient for the transform block and that the transform block cannot be skipped. In the example implementations below, focus is place on the signaling and coding of the skip_txfm flag. For simplicity, the skip_txfm flag above may be referred to as skip flag

A set of contexts may be designed for entropy coding of the skip_txfm flags (or the zero-skip flag) in the bitstream. The context for coding the skip_txfm flag of a particular current coding block may be selected from the set of contexts. The selection of the context may be indicated by an index. The selection from the set of contexts may depend on various factors. For example, the selection of encoding context for the skip_txfm of a current block may depend on the skip_txfm flag value of at least one of the neighboring blocks of the current block. For example, the at least one neighboring block may include an above and/or left neighboring blocks of the current block. For example, selection may be made from a total three different contexts. In specific example implementations, if none of above or left neighboring blocks is coded with nonzero skip_txfm flag, context index value 0 is used for coding the skip_txfm flag of the current block. If one of above and left neighboring blocks is coded with nonzero skip_txfm fag, context index value 1 may be used for coding the skip_txfm flag of the current block. If both above and left neighboring blocks are coded with nonzero skip_txfm flags, context value 2 is used for coding the skip_txfm flag of the current block. Such implementations are based on statistical observation that the more neighboring blocks has all-zero coefficients, the more likely that the current block also has all-zero coefficients. The example selection process from the set of contexts for encoding the current skip_txfm flag is shown below in Table 3.

TABLE 3 Neighor block-dependent context derivation for skip_txfm flag; the cdf is given by          TileSkipCdf [ctx]  ctx = 0  if ( AvailU )   ctx += Skips[ MiRow - 1 ][ MiCol ]  if ( AvaiiL )   ctx += Skips[ MiRow ][ MiCol - 1 ]

The additional example implementations below focus on schemes for further improving entropy coding efficiency of the skip_txfm flag and some other flags in the bitstream, taking advantage of some statistical correlations between these flags and other flags within the current coding block or across coding blocks (e.g. between neighboring blocks). In particular, the contexts for encoding these flags for a coding block are designed to depend on prediction mode (either intra or inter prediction modes) of the coding block and/or its neighboring coding blocks.

For example, some of these example implementations may be based on the observation that in addition to the correlation of skip_txfm flags values between the neighboring blocks, the probability of skip_txfm value being equal to 1 for a current block may also be largely dependent on whether the current block is intra or inter coded block. By taking the prediction mode into consideration in determining context for encoding the skip_txfm flag, more coding efficiency may be gained as a result of the likely correlation between the skip_txfm flag values and the prediction modes.

The various example implementations below may be used separately or combined in any order. Further, each of these implementations may be embodied as a portion of an encoder and/or a decoder, and may be implemented either in hardware or software. For example, they may be hard coded in dedicated processing circuitry (e.g., one or more integrated circuits). In one other example, they may be implemented by one or more processors executing a program that is stored in a non-transitory computer-readable medium. In addition, the term “block” may refer to any unit of video information, and the term “block size” may refer to either the block width or height, or maximum value of width and height, or minimum of width and height, or area size (width*height), or aspect ratio (width:height, or height:width) of the block.

In some general example implementations, multiple contexts may be designed for encoding the skip_txfm flag of a current block of a video in the bitstream. The context used for signaling and encoding the skip_txfm flag of a particular current block may depend on the prediction mode of the current block, e.g., whether current block is intra coded or inter coded.

In some example embodiments, when the current block is an inter coded block, the context for signaling and coding the skip_txfm flag may depend on the following two conditions: a) whether at least one neighboring block of the current block (e.g., the above and/or left blocks) is intra coded or not; and b) the skip_txfm flag of the at least one neighboring block of the current block (e.g., above or left neighboring blocks).

In one specific example implementation using both an above and left neighboring block, if the current block is an inter coded block, the context selection (context index value) implementations for encoding the current skip_txfm flag above based on neighboring skip_txfm flags may be further modified according to the following equations:

above_skip_txfm=is_inter(above_mi)?above_mi→skip_txfm:0  (1)

left_skip_txfm=is_inter(left_mi)?left_mi→skip_txfm:0  (2)

context=above_skip_txfm+left_skip_txfm  (3)

wherein is_inter(left_mi) or is_inter(above_mi) returns a Boolean value indicating whether the left block or above block is an inter coded block or not, above_mi→skip_txfm denotes the transform skip flag (skip_txfm) of above block, and left_mi→skip_txfm denotes the transform skip flag of left block. These neighboring block skip_txfm flags may be referred to as reference skip_txfm flags, as references to generate the “above_skip_txfm” and “above_skip_txfm”, which are referred to as prediction mode dependent neighboring skip_txfm flags. The context selection index may be a sum of the prediction mode dependent neighboring skip_txfm flags.

Following the example above, there may be three example contexts denoted by context 0, 1, and 2. When the current block is an intra predicted block, the determination of the context for coding the current skip_txfm flag may follow the example procedure of Table 3 or other procedures. However, when the current block is an inter predicted block, the context selection would be modified by the equations above such that the skip_txfm flags of the neighboring blocks considered in Table 3 be replaced by the prediction mode dependent neighboring skip_txfm flags in the equations above. The prediction mode dependent neighboring skip_txfm flags essentially represent the actual neighboring skip_txfm flags as modified depending on the prediction mode of the neighboring blocks. Specifically, the actual skip_txfm flag of a neighboring block would be retained as the prediction mode dependent skip_txfm flag if the neighboring block is an inter coded block, and otherwise, if the neighboring block is an intra coded block, the prediction mode dependent skip_txfm flag of the neighboring block would be be set to 0 (as if the neighboring block were not all zero coefficient regardless of whether that is actually true). In essence, the above implementation takes advantage of the observation that when the one or more neighboring blocks are intra predicted, then it is more likely that the current block is not all non-zero.

The equations above are used merely for generating an example of three distinct context indices pointing to three different contexts. Other mathematics can be formulated to make such differentiation and there may be more than three different contexts and corresponding context indices.

In some other or further example implementations, the context for signaling and coding skip_txfm flag may depend on the current block prediction mode, e.g., on the following conditions: a) whether current block is intra or inter coded block; b) the skip_txfm value of at least one neighboring block, e.g., above and/or left neighboring blocks.

In some of the example implementations above, if current block (or neighboring blocks) is an intra block copy mode, it is regarded as an inter coded block rather than intra prediction block when signaling skip_txfm flag.

In some example implementations above, a flag, referred to as is_inter flag, may be used to indicate whether the current block is an inter coded block. Such a fag may be signaled before skip_txfm flag in the bitstream such that the decoder may parse its value first and use is to determine decoding context for the skip_txfm flag that follows in the bitstream.

In some example implementations, if the current block is an intra coded block, one set of contexts may be used to signal the skip_txfm flag. Otherwise, another set of contexts may be used to signal skip_txfm flag. In other words, two sets of contexts may be designed, and selection of the context set for signaling may be made first by the prediction mode of the current block, and then further selection may be made with each set of contexts based on other information, such as the neighboring skip_txfm flags and neighboring prediction modes, as described above.

In the implementations above, the context for signaling and coding of the skip_txfm flag of the current block may depend on its prediction mode and/or the prediction modes of its neighboring blocks, and/or the skip_txfm flags of its neighboring blocks. In some other example implementations, signaling and coding of an is_inter flag for indicating whether the current block is an inter coded block may depend on the value of skip_txfm flag of the current block.

For example, if skip_txfm flag of current block is equal to 0 (indicating that at least one coefficient in the current block is non-zero), one set of contexts may be used to signal the is_inter flag. Otherwise, another set of contexts may be used to signal the is_inter flag. This may be based on the observation that blocks with nonzero coefficients may have like prediction mode more often than not statistically, and likewise, blocks with all-zero coefficients may also have like prediction mode more often than not statistically.

For another further example, the context for signaling is_inter flag may alternatively or additionally depend on the neighboring skip_txfm. For example, such context may depend on the following example conditions: a) whether the value of skip_txfm flag of current block is zero or not; b) whether the value of skip_txfm flag of at least one neighboring block, e.g., above/left block, is zero or not. This scheme essentially takes advantage of the statistical correlation between prediction modes and coefficient characteristics (all zero or otherwise).

For these implementations, the skip_txfm flag may be signaled ahead of the is_inter flag in the bitstream because of the interdependency described above.

In some further implementations, the is_inter flag may not be included in the bitstream and may be implied as true (or 1) at the decoder side when skip_txfm flag is equal to 1. This could be useful because even though there are no coefficients transmitted in the bitstream because the skip_txfm flag is 1 (all zero coefficient), an inter prediction would be implied or attributed to this block and used for decoding of its neighboring blocks when those neighboring blocks are associated with flags coded based on the prediction mode of this current block.

FIG. 16 shows a flow chart 1600 of an example method following the principles underlying the implementations above for zero-skip flag coding. The example method flow starts at 1601. In S1610, a zero-skip flag of at least one neighboring block of the current block is determined as a reference zero-skip flag. In S1620, a prediction mode for the current block is determined as being either an intra prediction mode or inter prediction mode. In S1630, at least one context for decoding the zero-skip flag of the current block is derived based on the reference zero-skip flag and the current prediction mode. In S1640, the zero-skip flag of the current block is decoded according to the at least one context. The example method flow ends at S1699. The above method flow applies encoding as well.

Embodiments in the disclosure may be used separately or combined in any order. Further, each of the methods (or embodiments), an encoder, and a decoder may be implemented by processing circuitry (e.g., one or more processors or one or more integrated circuits). In one example, the one or more processors execute a program that is stored in a non-transitory computer-readable medium. Embodiments in the disclosure may be applied to a luma block or a chroma block.

The techniques described above, can be implemented as computer software using computer-readable instructions and physically stored in one or more computer-readable media. For example, FIG. 17 shows a computer system (1700) suitable for implementing certain embodiments of the disclosed subject matter.

The computer software can be coded using any suitable machine code or computer language, that may be subject to assembly, compilation, linking, or like mechanisms to create code comprising instructions that can be executed directly, or through interpretation, micro-code execution, and the like, by one or more computer central processing units (CPUs), Graphics Processing Units (GPUs), and the like.

The instructions can be executed on various types of computers or components thereof, including, for example, personal computers, tablet computers, servers, smartphones, gaming devices, internet of things devices, and the like.

The components shown in FIG. 17 for computer system (1700) are exemplary in nature and are not intended to suggest any limitation as to the scope of use or functionality of the computer software implementing embodiments of the present disclosure. Neither should the configuration of components be interpreted as having any dependency or requirement relating to any one or combination of components illustrated in the exemplary embodiment of a computer system (1700).

Computer system (1700) may include certain human interface input devices. Such a human interface input device may be responsive to input by one or more human users through, for example, tactile input (such as: keystrokes, swipes, data glove movements), audio input (such as: voice, clapping), visual input (such as: gestures), olfactory input (not depicted). The human interface devices can also be used to capture certain media not necessarily directly related to conscious input by a human, such as audio (such as: speech, music, ambient sound), images (such as: scanned images, photographic images obtain from a still image camera), video (such as two-dimensional video, three-dimensional video including stereoscopic video).

Input human interface devices may include one or more of (only one of each depicted): keyboard (1701), mouse (1702), trackpad (1703), touch screen (1710), data-glove (not shown), joystick (1705), microphone (1706), scanner (1707), camera (1708).

Computer system (1700) may also include certain human interface output devices. Such human interface output devices may be stimulating the senses of one or more human users through, for example, tactile output, sound, light, and smell/taste. Such human interface output devices may include tactile output devices (for example tactile feedback by the touch-screen (1710), data-glove (not shown), or joystick (1705), but there can also be tactile feedback devices that do not serve as input devices), audio output devices (such as: speakers (1709), headphones (not depicted)), visual output devices (such as screens (1710) to include CRT screens, LCD screens, plasma screens, OLED screens, each with or without touch-screen input capability, each with or without tactile feedback capability—some of which may be capable to output two dimensional visual output or more than three dimensional output through means such as stereographic output; virtual-reality glasses (not depicted), holographic displays and smoke tanks (not depicted)), and printers (not depicted).

Computer system (1700) can also include human accessible storage devices and their associated media such as optical media including CD/DVD ROM/RW (1720) with CD/DVD or the like media (1721), thumb-drive (1722), removable hard drive or solid state drive (1723), legacy magnetic media such as tape and floppy disc (not depicted), specialized ROM/ASIC/PLD based devices such as security dongles (not depicted), and the like.

Those skilled in the art should also understand that term “computer readable media” as used in connection with the presently disclosed subject matter does not encompass transmission media, carrier waves, or other transitory signals.

Computer system (1700) can also include an interface (1754) to one or more communication networks (1755). Networks can for example be wireless, wireline, optical. Networks can further be local, wide-area, metropolitan, vehicular and industrial, real-time, delay-tolerant, and so on. Examples of networks include local area networks such as Ethernet, wireless LANs, cellular networks to include GSM, 3G, 4G, 5G, LTE and the like, TV wireline or wireless wide area digital networks to include cable TV, satellite TV, and terrestrial broadcast TV, vehicular and industrial to include CAN bus, and so forth. Certain networks commonly require external network interface adapters that attached to certain general-purpose data ports or peripheral buses (1749) (such as, for example USB ports of the computer system (1700)); others are commonly integrated into the core of the computer system (1700) by attachment to a system bus as described below (for example Ethernet interface into a PC computer system or cellular network interface into a smartphone computer system). Using any of these networks, computer system (1700) can communicate with other entities. Such communication can be uni-directional, receive only (for example, broadcast TV), uni-directional send-only (for example CANbus to certain CANbus devices), or bi-directional, for example to other computer systems using local or wide area digital networks. Certain protocols and protocol stacks can be used on each of those networks and network interfaces as described above.

Aforementioned human interface devices, human-accessible storage devices, and network interfaces can be attached to a core (1740) of the computer system (1700).

The core (1740) can include one or more Central Processing Units (CPU) (1741), Graphics Processing Units (GPU) (1742), specialized programmable processing units in the form of Field Programmable Gate Areas (FPGA) (1743), hardware accelerators for certain tasks (1744), graphics adapters (1750), and so forth. These devices, along with Read-only memory (ROM) (1745), Random-access memory (1746), internal mass storage such as internal non-user accessible hard drives, SSDs, and the like (1747), may be connected through a system bus (1748). In some computer systems, the system bus (1748) can be accessible in the form of one or more physical plugs to enable extensions by additional CPUs, GPU, and the like. The peripheral devices can be attached either directly to the core's system bus (1748), or through a peripheral bus (1749). In an example, the screen (1710) can be connected to the graphics adapter (1750). Architectures for a peripheral bus include PCI, USB, and the like.

CPUs (1741), GPUs (1742), FPGAs (1743), and accelerators (1744) can execute certain instructions that, in combination, can make up the aforementioned computer code. That computer code can be stored in ROM (1745) or RAM (1746). Transitional data can also be stored in RAM (1746), whereas permanent data can be stored for example, in the internal mass storage (1747). Fast storage and retrieve to any of the memory devices can be enabled through the use of cache memory, that can be closely associated with one or more CPU (1741), GPU (1742), mass storage (1747), ROM (1745), RAM (1746), and the like.

The computer readable media can have computer code thereon for performing various computer-implemented operations. The media and computer code can be those specially designed and constructed for the purposes of the present disclosure, or they can be of the kind well known and available to those having skill in the computer software arts.

As a non-limiting example, the computer system having architecture (1700), and specifically the core (1740) can provide functionality as a result of processor(s) (including CPUs, GPUs, FPGA, accelerators, and the like) executing software embodied in one or more tangible, computer-readable media. Such computer-readable media can be media associated with user-accessible mass storage as introduced above, as well as certain storage of the core (1740) that are of non-transitory nature, such as core-internal mass storage (1747) or ROM (1745). The software implementing various embodiments of the present disclosure can be stored in such devices and executed by core (1740). A computer-readable medium can include one or more memory devices or chips, according to particular needs. The software can cause the core (1740) and specifically the processors therein (including CPU, GPU, FPGA, and the like) to execute particular processes or particular parts of particular processes described herein, including defining data structures stored in RAM (1746) and modifying such data structures according to the processes defined by the software. In addition or as an alternative, the computer system can provide functionality as a result of logic hardwired or otherwise embodied in a circuit (for example: accelerator (1744)), which can operate in place of or together with software to execute particular processes or particular parts of particular processes described herein. Reference to software can encompass logic, and vice versa, where appropriate. Reference to a computer-readable media can encompass a circuit (such as an integrated circuit (IC)) storing software for execution, a circuit embodying logic for execution, or both, where appropriate. The present disclosure encompasses any suitable combination of hardware and software.

While this disclosure has described several exemplary embodiments, there are alterations, permutations, and various substitute equivalents, which fall within the scope of the disclosure. It will thus be appreciated that those skilled in the art will be able to devise numerous systems and methods which, although not explicitly shown or described herein, embody the principles of the disclosure and are thus within the spirit and scope thereof.

APPENDIX A: ACRONYMS

-   JEM: joint exploration model -   VVC: versatile video coding -   BMS: benchmark set -   MV: Motion Vector -   HEVC: High Efficiency Video Coding -   SEI: Supplementary Enhancement Information -   VUI: Video Usability Information -   GOPs: Groups of Pictures -   TUs: Transform Units, -   PUs: Prediction Units -   CTUs: Coding Tree Units -   CTBs: Coding Tree Blocks -   PBs: Prediction Blocks -   HRD: Hypothetical Reference Decoder -   SNR: Signal Noise Ratio -   CPUs: Central Processing Units -   GPUs: Graphics Processing Units -   CRT: Cathode Ray Tube -   LCD: Liquid-Crystal Display -   OLED: Organic Light-Emitting Diode -   CD: Compact Disc -   DVD: Digital Video Disc -   ROM: Read-Only Memory -   RAM: Random Access Memory -   ASIC: Application-Specific Integrated Circuit -   PLD: Programmable Logic Device -   LAN: Local Area Network -   GSM: Global System for Mobile communications -   LTE: Long-Term Evolution -   CANBus: Controller Area Network Bus -   USB: Universal Serial Bus -   PCI: Peripheral Component Interconnect -   FPGA: Field Programmable Gate Areas -   SSD: solid-state drive -   IC: Integrated Circuit -   HDR: high dynamic range -   SDR: standard dynamic range -   JVET: Joint Video Exploration Team -   MPM: most probable mode -   WAIP: Wide-Angle Intra Prediction -   CU: Coding Unit -   PU: Prediction Unit -   TU: Transform Unit -   CTU: Coding Tree Unit -   PDPC: Position Dependent Prediction Combination -   ISP: Intra Sub-Partitions -   SPS: Sequence Parameter Setting -   PPS: Picture Parameter Set -   APS: Adaptation Parameter Set -   VPS: Video Parameter Set -   DPS: Decoding Parameter Set -   ALF: Adaptive Loop Filter -   SAO: Sample Adaptive Offset -   CC-ALF: Cross-Component Adaptive Loop Filter -   CDEF: Constrained Directional Enhancement Filter -   CCSO: Cross-Component Sample Offset -   LSO: Local Sample Offset -   LR: Loop Restoration Filter -   AV1: AOMedia Video 1 -   AV2: AOMedia Video 2 

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for decoding a current block in a video, comprising: determining a zero-skip flag of at least one neighboring block of the current block as a reference zero-skip flag; determining a prediction mode for the current block as being either an intra prediction mode or inter prediction mode; deriving at least one context for decoding the zero-skip flag of the current block based on the reference zero-skip flag and the current prediction mode; and decoding the zero-skip flag of the current block according to the at least one context.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein: the at least one neighboring block comprises a first neighboring block and a second neighboring block of the current block; and the reference zero-skip flag comprise a first reference zero-skip flag and a second reference zero-skip flag corresponding to the first neighboring block and the second neighboring block, respectively.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein deriving the at least one context based on the reference zero-skip flag and the current prediction mode comprises: in response the current prediction mode being an inter prediction mode: deriving a first mode-dependent reference zero-skip flag based on a first prediction mode of the first neighboring block and the first reference zero-skip flag; deriving a second mode-dependent reference zero-skip flag based on a second prediction mode of the second neighboring block and the second reference zero-skip flag; and deriving the at least one context based on the first mode-dependent reference zero-skip flag and the second mode-dependent reference zero-skip flag.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein: deriving the first mode-dependent reference zero-skip flag comprises: in response to the first prediction mode being an inter prediction mode, setting the first mode-dependent reference zero-skip flag to a value of the first reference zero-skip flag; and in response to the first prediction mode not being an inter prediction mode, setting the first mode-dependent reference zero-skip flag to a value indicating non-skip; and deriving the second mode-dependent reference zero-skip flag comprises: in response to the second prediction mode being an inter prediction mode, setting the second mode-dependent reference zero-skip flag to a value of the second reference zero-skip flag; and in response to the second prediction mode not being an inter prediction mode, setting the second mode-dependent reference zero-skip flag to a value indicating non-skip.
 5. The method of claim 4, wherein deriving the at least one context based on the first mode-dependent reference zero-skip flag and the second mode-dependent reference zero-skip flag comprises deriving a context of the at least one context as a sum of the first mode-dependent reference zero-skip flag and the second mode-dependent reference zero-skip flag.
 6. The method of claim 3, wherein the first neighboring block and the second neighboring block comprise a top neighboring block and a left neighboring block of the current block, respectively.
 7. The method of claim 3, wherein: the first prediction mode is considered an inter prediction mode when a prediction mode of the first neighboring block is an intra copy mode; and the second prediction mode is considered an inter prediction mode when a prediction mode of the second neighboring block is an intra copy mode.
 8. The method of claim 3, wherein a prediction mode flag for indicating whether the current block is an inter coded block is signaled before signaling the zero-skip flag of the current block.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein the current prediction mode is considered as an inter prediction mode when a prediction mode associated with the current block is an intra block copy mode.
 10. The method of claim 3, wherein the at least one context comprises a first context and a second context used for coding the zero-skip flag of the current block when the current block is intra coded and inter coded, respectively.
 11. A method for decoding a current block in a video, comprising: determining a zero-skip flag for the current block to indicate whether the current block is an all-zero block; deriving at least one set of contexts for decoding a prediction mode flag based on a value of the zero-skip flag, the prediction mode flag indicating whether the current block is to be intra decoded or inter decoded; and decoding the prediction mode flag of the current block according to the at least one set of contexts.
 12. The method of claim 11, wherein the at least one set of contexts comprise a first set of contexts when the zero-skip flag for the current block indicates that the current block is not an all-zero block; and the at least one set of contexts comprise a second set of contexts distinct from the first set of contexts when the zero-skip flag for the current block indicates that the current block is an all-zero block.
 13. The method of claim 11, wherein the at least one set of contexts further depend on a value of at least one reference zero-skip flag of at least one neighboring block of the current block.
 14. The method of claim 13, the at least one neighboring block comprises a top neighboring block and a left neighboring block of the current block of the video.
 15. A method for decoding a current block in a video bitstream, comprising: parsing the video bitstream to identify a zero-skip flag for the current block; determining whether the current block is an all-zero block according to the zero-skip flag; and in response to that the current block is an all-zero block, setting a prediction mode flag of the current block to indicate a inter prediction mode rather than parsing it from the video bitstream.
 16. The method of claim 15, further comprising using the prediction mode flag of the current block in decoding a neighboring block of the current block.
 17. A device comprising a circuitry configured to perform the method of claim
 1. 18. A device comprising a circuitry configured to perform the method of claim
 11. 19. A device comprising a circuitry configured to perform the method of claim
 15. 20. A non-transitory computer readable medium for storing instructions, the instructions, when executed by a process, are configured to encode a current block in a video by performing the method of claim
 1. 